


The time Emma and Regina woke up in each other's beds (and not for the right reason)

by queenssaviour



Series: Swan Queen Week (Summer 2016) [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Anti CS, Arguments, Body Swap, Coming Out, Confessions, F/F, Hook is in one chapter, Humor, Insecurities, Jealousy, Post S3, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week Summer 2016, one and then he’s gone forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2017-02-19
Packaged: 2018-08-08 20:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7771273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/queenssaviour/pseuds/queenssaviour
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is getting ridiculous. Not only does she keep on having inappropriate dreams that feature her, Emma, and the table at the Sheriff's station, but now she even… <i>smells Emma's shampoo when she wakes up?</i></p><p>Her eyes shoot open as she sits up and looks down. Her line of sight is partly obscured by blond hair. Her skin looks pale, and these are definitely not her hands. Her torso is covered by white cotton, and she can make out hardened nipples of breasts that are bigger than hers. </p><p>  <i>Hell no.</i></p><p>[In which Emma is a closeted lesbian, Regina puts the “bi” in “bitter,” and Zelena performs a body swap spell on the two oblivious idiots because she can't take their arguing anymore. Written for Swan Queen Week, Day 1 (Confessions), Day 3 (Insecurities), Day 6 (Arguments), and Day 8 (Coming Out).]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hiya! This is a post 4x01-ish fic, but there's no Frozen stuff and Zelena didn't die in 3x20! (She's living at Regina's now and they're becoming Sisters and all that. The fic will start with her POV and then move on to Regina's and after that Emma's.)
> 
> Many thanks to my awesome beta, Tris (who came up with the title btw)!
> 
> tw: There's discussion on internalized homophobia(/heteronormativity), and Hook can't take no for an answer (he says gross things but nothing physical happens), and there's a vague allusion to Leopold and Regina's marriage not being consensual, so if that's triggering for you, you shouldn't read this one. Hook's only in the first chapter, and then he's gone.

"I honestly could not care less about who Emma Swan dates," Regina fumes as she chops an onion in half. "I simply think it's rather unthoughtful to bring that filthy pirate to a family dinner he wasn't invited to."

"Sure," Zelena says as she sneakily grabs and eats a slice of tomato when Regina's back is turned.

This is getting ridiculous. In all the time Zelena has been out of that jail cell at the Sheriff's station, her sister has not been able to simply shut up about the Savior. At first, it was rather amusing, but now that she's actually starting to bond with her sister and care about her well-being, it's getting exhausting. Zelena is no expert on love, but she _knows_ her sister is in love with Emma Swan.

It's obvious, really. She doesn't understand how Regina can't see how transparent she's being with her jealousy - she's fairly certain even Snow White knows, as well as Regina's son (that she shares with Emma, by the way. It's _ridiculous)_.

She keeps nodding as Regina keeps fuming about Captain Hook. Zelena has kind of stopped paying attention by now. Regina just keeps on repeating the same things over and over again: how she's happy for Emma but she doesn't want her to rub it in her face, how it's unthoughtful to bring your boyfriend to family dinner when he hasn't been invited and when you're only now mending your friendship, and how she doesn't understand how Emma could've settled for that loathsome pirate when she could have literally anyone in town.

Not transparent at all.

"And she told me she'd find me my happy ending, but what has she done, exactly? Brought back the wife of my soulmate," Regina mutters, and Zelena's afraid she'll soon cut her finger. "And started dating that pirate."

Zelena rolls her eyes. "Honestly, Regina. Can you seriously not see everything you have already? You have a son. Friends who love you despite the things you've done. You're the Mayor… Can't you just… realize that most of us don't even have that?" Regina has basically _everything._

Her words seem to have an effect since Regina stops cutting the onion and focuses her attention on her.

"I'm… sorry," Regina says, which makes Zelena surprised. From what she can gather, her sister isn't that big on apologies. "You're right. I have Henry, and… all of you…" she adds the last bit hesitantly. "And that's all that matters."

"Thank you," Zelena responds. She's at a loss of words for a moment, but recovers quickly. "So do you and Emma always argue like this or am I just lucky to witness this rarity?"

Regina chuckles at that. There's a smile on her lips that's so _endearing_ despite the fact that she's supposed to be mad at Emma. Zelena fights the urge to roll her eyes.

"When she first came to town, we fought a lot. I was afraid that she would take my son away from me, and at one point she said she would. But then she had my back against the town after the curse broke." Regina's expression is thoughtful as she pauses. "And then we fought again when mother was here."

Zelena knows that bit. Regina has told her a lot about their mother during these few weeks she's been living with her. She hates to admit it, but it's been a healing experience to both of them and she likes Regina more now because of it.

"And then we saved the town together… and then we fought… We got Henry back… And then we argued again, and he was really Pan… Then we said goodbye," Regina lists, and suddenly she looks like she's in pain. "Anyway, this is nothing unusual."

"I see," Zelena says as innocently as she possibly can. She can't comment more, because that's when Henry enters the kitchen.

Regina asks him about his homework and Henry explains something about a science project, but Zelena can't concentrate on that because she has an idea forming in her head.

She has spent a considerable part of her days in the mansion getting to know the popular culture of this realm. Sometimes she has even been allowed to surf the interwebs. It keeps her away from her vindictive thoughts, and it's more fascinating than she could have ever thought; there's music, television series, and movies! She recently watched a movie about a mother and a daughter switching bodies and making up, and she's fairly certain that kind of experience could be good for her sister and Emma.

If she went to Regina's vault, she could surely find some sort of spell similar to the one in the movie. There would be no fortune cookies this time, but simply a good old traditional body swap that could be broken by True Love's Kiss, or whatever kind of countercurse Regina could come up with if she were stupid enough not to kiss Emma.

Zelena nods to herself. Even if she's trying to be good and work on her redemption, that doesn't mean she can't have a evil genius scheme or two. These are for the common good, after all, so what could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Regina wakes up with an ache between her legs.

This is getting ridiculous. Not only does she keep on having inappropriate dreams that feature her, Emma, and the table at the Sheriff's station, but now she even… _smells Emma's shampoo when she wakes up?_

Her eyes shoot open as she sits up and looks down. Her line of sight is partly obscured by blond hair. Her skin looks pale, and these are definitely not her hands. Her torso is covered by white cotton, and she can make out hardened nipples of breasts that are bigger than hers.

_Hell no._

"Morning, Swan," says an all-too-familiar accented voice from the other side of the room.

"What the _hell_ have you done?" Regina asks Hook, who's leering at her (Emma, really, since she seems to be stuck in Emma's body somehow) from the arm chair across the room.

"Sorry, Swan. Your mother let me in. I thought I'd surprise you and pay you a visit." Hook winks at her, and Regina feels like she's going to vomit.

"Emma didn't even know you were here? How disturbing is that?" she says before she can stop herself.

"Do you always speak of yourself in the third person when you're upset?" He's still smirking like the imbecile he is, and Regina doesn't know how much more she can take. "I thought I'd watch you sleep."

"This isn't fucking Twilight. Get out."

"What's that?" Hook asks, genuinely confused.

"Something you shouldn't read. It would give you even worse ideas of what's desirable behavior," Regina mutters. Sometimes when you live in a town that's stuck in time, you just want to keep up with outer world's popular culture, no matter what the quality is.

"But wasn't this romantic, Emma?" Hook asks. Regina hates how Emma's name sounds on his lips.

Regina thinks of the countless times her late husband had come to their bedroom unannounced, much to Regina's dismay. This was anything but romantic.

"Get out," she grits.

"But what's the fun in that, love?" Hook says, waggling his eyebrows.

Regina groans and brings a hand on her temple. Why is this happening? Suddenly she's in Emma's body, and as if that isn't punishment enough, she's forced to talk with Captain Guyliner and accept his ridiculous and highly unbecoming flirting.

She knows she could easily come clean and tell the pirate she was Regina trapped in Emma's body, but frankly, she can't be bothered. Not only could she hear something that can be useful for her, she can also find out what's really going on and how on Earth the dim-witted joke of a man got Emma to fall for his cringeworthy flirting.

"I knew you wouldn't stay mad at me for too long, love," Hook leered. "I already won you over, didn't I?"

Regina fights her natural impulse to gag, and tries to concentrate on what Hook just implied. Emma has been mad at him?

"I don't know, _Killian,"_ she uses the name Emma has started using when referring to the pirate. "What did I say when we last talked? Think about that."

The pirate's dark brow scrunches in deep thought, and Regina fights the urge to roll her eyes. She wonders if he listens to Emma at all. He can't even tell he's not really talking with Emma even though Regina isn't trying to hide it very hard.

"You said it was a mistake for me to come to the dinner when Regina hadn't invited me, and you hadn't invited me either…"

"I hadn't invited you," Regina says. She tries very hard not to make her utterance sound like a question.

"Aye, but I thought I should be there. The little lad's future father figure and all," Hook asserts.

Regina counts to ten and suppresses her urge to throw a fireball at Hook. Henry will most definitely not have him as his father figure. _Over her dead body._ How can Emma allow him to talk like this? Especially when Henry's actual father _died_ not too long ago.

"I highly doubt that, considering that I don't even invite you to family dinners," she snaps out. It brings her odd satisfaction to hear Emma's voice say the dismissive words to Hook.

She gets out of bed, a bit disoriented due to being in a different slightly taller and differently built body, but she's sure her clumsiness just makes her seem more like Emma. She sees Hook frown at her comment before he goes back to his disgusting self, his eyes roaming over her - Emma's - body. It's only then Regina fully realizes she's wearing only red panties and a white tank top one can see easily through.

"You're looking good, Swan," Hook says with a waggle of his eyebrows as he stands up and starts walking towards her. "What do you say we take some time to ourselves and enjoy this beautiful morning for a while?"

Regina fights her urge to gag for the umpteenth time this morning.

"Can't," she says as casually as she can. "I have a lot to do today."

"Come on, Swan," Hook says and puts a hand on her waist. Regina can smell him now: he smells like fish and mold. Why on earth is Emma courting with this man? "You know you want to."

That's what does it for Regina. She flings Hook against Emma's bedroom wall with her magic. No one will touch Emma - or her, for that matter - if she's already said no.

"I said _no_ ," Regina spits out, still holding Hook in place with her magic. In fact, she thinks it might be Emma's magic now that she's in this body, because this magic doesn't feel like _hers,_ but it feels familiar and safe, as if she's crossed paths with it before.

"Is this because of Regina?" Hook grits out when the hold of Regina's magic decreases.

"Regina?" she says. Has Hook figured something out? He possibly can't have. Not with the way he just posed his question. "Why would this have anything to do with Regina?"

"Oh, please, Swan," Hook says with so much contempt that Regina wants to magically shove him through the wall. "Don't pretend like that night didn't happen. It's always been Regina for you even before that. _When will Regina have a happy ending? How can I make her feel better? Regina feels terrible and it's all my fault…_ It's getting old, Swan."

She tries not to act surprised, but her mouth gapes open anyway. She's been wondering if Emma's worry for her, the words she said through her office door, had been genuine anguish, but the fact that the woman talks about her enough to make the pirate this annoyed speaks for itself.

"She's all you think about. I swear sometimes you seem so obsessed with her that you might as well be in love with her," Hook spits out. "You need to concentrate on what truly matters."

"You know what?" Regina says. "I think you're right."

She flicks her fingers and transports Hook in the middle of the woods, unable to believe that she was able to tolerate his behavior this long in the first place.

She sits down on Emma's bed and brings her hand to her temple again. Hook's words - as absurd as they might be - won't leave her mind. Emma cares about her; enough to make the pirate jealous. She's actively thinking of ways to make her feel better, and she didn't invite the pirate to the family dinner that was meant to mend their relationship. Hook had invited himself.

She's been aware of her feelings towards Emma for quite a while. When Emma first came into Storybrooke, her inappropriate thoughts were merely sexual, but later when they actually started looking after one another and even care about each other, she knew there was more to it.

First, she had thought that maybe her attraction and feelings were reciprocated on some level. She still thinks that sometimes; maybe Emma is just so oblivious to the truth that she doesn't want to face her feelings, but that's really none of her business. She really hopes Hook has been just a distraction, and the fact that she doesn't know for sure is killing her.

She started thinking her feelings were one-sided when they were in Neverland and Emma made a move towards the pirate. She remembers feeling sick. After that, there were their goodbyes at the town line. That's when she had truly realized she actually loved Emma, but it had been the time to let her go, and she never found out what Emma had been thinking when she drove away with their son.

When Zelena's curse had taken over Storybrooke, she had accepted fate. She had been happy that someone still offered her romantic love, even if that someone wasn't Emma but another blond thief with a tattoo. Her relationship with Robin hadn't ended too well either after Emma - the person who Regina actually trusted - had brought Robin's wife back from the dead.

Regina shakes her head. There's no point dwelling on that. Marian's actually nice, as much as Regina originally hated to admit it. They've talked a few times after her return, and they hit it off surprisingly well, considering everything that's happened. Sometimes Regina wonders if she could be on her way to making a new friend.

Speaking of friends… Emma Swan is most likely trapped in Regina's body. She must be confused since she's not as used to magical mishaps, and waking up in someone else's body isn't really something that happens every day. Regina sighs as she gets off the bed and makes her way towards Emma's drawer so she can pull on some clothes and get this day over with; she needs to get her body back, and she has Henry and Zelena to look after.

She goes through Emma's clothes for a minute before she settles on a pair of black jeans, a different tank top, and a bra. If she wants this to go as subtly and quietly as possible, she might as well dress like Emma.

For a moment, she feels like she ought to take a shower since she just woke up, but she decides against it because she feels like that would be a violation against Emma's privacy. Seeing and feeling the woman in that state without her consent would highly inappropriate, so she flicks her fingers, and suddenly she's dressed in Emma's clothes. She turns around and decides that her reflection in the old long mirror against the wall looks convincing enough. She only needs to tell Snow and David that she'll be back later, and she can transport herself straight to the mansion and start fixing this mess.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Tris again for beta reading and thank you all so much for your interest in this story!

Emma feels satin sheets on her skin when she wakes up.

They feel so nice and cool against her skin. Snow must've changed them for her, but she had been too tired to notice when she went to bed. She had been thinking about ways to make Regina feel better. Regina deserves all the happiness in the world, and it's her job to help her find that happiness.

Not that it feels like a duty, of course. She would do anything for Regina. For a moment, she had thought they had been in a better place already, but then Killian had insisted on coming to family dinner that she had with Regina, Henry, and Zelena. She's not even sure why she had agreed that he could do that; Regina had seemed anything but happy.

After that, she had told Killian they should take some time apart, although she's still not sure if he had understood what that really meant.

Her thoughts soon drift back to a dream she had. She had dreamt about spending the day with Regina and Henry and they'd all been laughing without a care in the world. It had been beautiful. _If only..._

Then, the dream had escalated and suddenly she had been pinning Regina against a wall and kissed her, her hands roaming all over Regina's body as she had pulled Regina's lower lip between hers. Regina had suddenly been everything she could think about, her soft warm body against Emma's and the scent of her perfume _everywhere,_ and…

Emma opens her eyes and jerks up with a sharp intake of breath. Her dream had been too vivid. She can never let these thoughts in her head. It's not okay. Regina is… Regina, and she's not supposed to feel this way about her, and more importantly, why is the scent of Regina's shampoo in her nostrils even though her dream is over?

She soon realizes that should be the least of her worries. She's not in her bedroom. She's in a luxurious queen-sized bed in a room that's swimming in a bright sunrise. She gets up, still half asleep, paddles to the window, and sees Regina's infamous apple tree.

She has to be in Regina's bedroom. She's never been here before, and it feels a bit like an invasion of privacy since she and Regina are currently fighting and Regina most definitely hasn't invited her to spend the night in her bed.

_Imagine that happening, though._

Emma shakes her head. No.

She starts to feel panic rise inside her. How did she get here? Is this another curse? Did she transport herself here magically because her dream was so intense? She truly hopes not.

She walks past a mirror, and that's when everything changes. Emma lets out a shriek, but it's not _her_ shriek. The sound comes from Regina's mouth and in Regina's voice as she stares at herself in the mirror. Her heart beats fast as she looks at her reflection that's not her reflection at all, dark hair and brows, olive skin, and the most beautiful face Emma has ever seen.

After her initial shock, she tries to even her breath. This shit happens. This is her life now. Regina's probably somewhere trapped inside her body just as confused as she is, but she'll eventually know how to fix this. They'll fix everything together. It's gonna be fine.

She repeats 'it's gonna be fine' in her head as she enters Regina's walk-in closet and tries to pick some clothes for the day; the short silky nightgown she's sporting isn't something she can wear around people without raising suspicion. Everything looks so fancy, as if it costs more than Emma's monthly paycheck, so she ends up choosing a pair of shorts and a tank top that are so unlike Regina Emma's surprised she even has them. Maybe Regina uses them when she works out or something.

She moves on to what appears to be Regina's underwear drawer. She feels extremely guilty, as if she's some sort of perv sneaking in Regina's closet, so she picks up the first bra she sees and practically runs out of the closet.

The next issue is getting dressed. She can't believe this can be so hard, but somehow it is. She's invalidated her attraction towards Regina for so long, tried to hide it and deny it, and now she's supposed to get Regina naked and dress her. This is horrible.

She sucks in a breath and closes her eyes as she pulls off the nightgown. She quickly fumbles with the bra that she's still holding and puts it in place, but she accidentally brushes a hand against Regina's breast in the process and her brain almost short-circuits.

She honestly wishes she'd dealt with her attraction towards women sometime earlier in her life, because it's all come back to bite her in the ass; she knows she wouldn't be reacting this strongly if she hadn't always repressed her feelings. She's never even said anything out loud or even kissed a woman, because she's been scared of not being good enough; and now that she has parents and their expectations, she feels like she can never really come out or explore her sexuality more. She feels trapped.

She wasn't even sure if she liked women before she met Regina. She feels like deep inside she knew, but she was raised in a very heteronormative environment and quite a few of her foster families were rather homophobic (not to mention the kids she went to school with), so she's always avoided appearing anything but straight, but the way Regina makes her feel is so intense that her attraction has become hard to ignore.

Sometimes she wonders if she likes men that much in the first place. She has been with men – Neal was her first love as a teenager and she even finally accepted Hook's flirting when Regina was with Robin – but sometimes she can't help but wonder what would happen if she did things differently. She wonders what would happen if she ever kissed Regina... If she ever truly let herself explore and find out what she thinks she already knows **.**

 _Well_ , it's not like Regina would be willing to explore that with her anyway since she seems to hate her now. Even though Emma has sometimes felt like Regina might feel attracted to her too, she always ends up thinking that she must just be imagining things and projecting her own feelings onto Regina. Regina has always been with men as far as Emma knows, and she's probably just flirty without trying, which has been messing with Emma's head. They're friends, and that's it.

She won't ruin their friendship by reading too much into their interactions just because she has a crush that she shouldn't have in the first place **.** She's worked hard enough just to be on speaking terms with Regina. She hopes she can do something to make Regina see she's her friend who genuinely wants her happiness and cares about her (more than she should, really, although that's something Regina does not need to know).

She opens her eyes and proceeds to pull on the sporty red tank top and black shorts. She takes a deep breath and buries the thoughts her dream has evoked deep inside. She can do this. She just needs to go look for Regina and they'll figure this out.

* * *

"Morning, sis!" Zelena chirps as she sees Regina's figure descend the stairs. She instantly knows that the woman in front of her isn't her sister - the poise is completely Emma Swan and Zelena tried the body swap spell last night. She isn't even dressed like Regina.

It had honestly been rather easy. All she had needed was a hair from each woman, some potion brewing, incantation, and voilá! They had switched bodies in their sleep and could now make up (and hopefully make out afterwards).

"Zelena. Morning," Emma says in Regina's voice. It's peculiar how different she sounds despite her voice being exactly the same as Regina's. "Is Henry up yet?"

"No," Zelena replies casually. She closes the book she'd been reading about a highly unrealistic voyage to the stars. "It's Sunday, and he was up reading late. He told me he'd have a new book recommendation for me after I've finished the one Belle gave me."

"That's… great," Emma says. "I'm gonna go out to… run some errands before he wakes up."

"That's great!" Zelena says. "Have-"

She's interrupted by a swirl of purple magic in front of them, and the next thing she sees is her sister in Emma Swan's body striding towards them. She's heard Regina has always been the one for dramatic entrances, and this time is no different. Regina has a determined look on Emma's face as she searches the foyer, her eyes finally landing on Emma.

"What on earth are you wearing?" Regina asks.

"Hi, Regi-" Emma starts, but seems to realize Zelena's in the room. "Oh, whatever. Hi, Regina."

The two stare at each other for a while, their gazes going up and down as they try to figure out what to do next. Zelena's sad she doesn't have popcorn. She's learned it's customary to eat popcorn in entertaining situations.

"Are you okay?" Regina asks Emma, her tone a lot softer now. _This is it._ Zelena knew it. She called it. They're starting to act friendly already, their arguments completely forgotten. She's a genius.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I just…" Emma stops and wraps her arms around herself. Zelena mentally tries to send Regina hugging vibes, but the women still don't hug each other. They seem to be completely useless without someone guiding them to the right direction. "Do you know how to fix this?"

"I'm not sure, but we should be able to find out," Regina ponders. She looks uncharacteristically thoughtful in Emma's body. She starts to list different kinds of curses, spells, and counter curses and soon she moves onto who could've done this.

 _Well. Shit._ Zelena didn't really think this through.

"Zelena?" Regina says.

"Uh hmm?" Zelena tries to answer as nonchalantly as she can while she pretends to read her book.

"Why aren't you more surprised?"

"Oh. I'm surprised. Shocked, even," she tries to convince her sister, putting on her most innocent poker face as she closes her book. "I simply cannot believe this is happening, although this _is_ Storybrooke. Have you thought about interrogating the Blue Fairy? She has always seemed rather shady to me."

"Zelena…" Regina says expectantly as she flips her blond locks behind her shoulder and crosses her arms. Emma in Regina's body mimics her expression, her dark brow scrunching in suspicion.

She rolls her eyes. She's only trying to help, but Regina and Emma seem anything but grateful. She might as well come clean, so they can move on to solve the real issue.

"Alright, fine, I did it," she confesses. "But I was only thinking of _your_ best interests. This was not wicked in any way. You should not be thinking of a punishment but focusing on yourselves."

She honestly won't get punished for this. She refuses. Not when she's being generous and thinking of someone else's happiness because she cares about them. She won't have these two arguing anymore when it's obvious they're in love. There's a limit.

"Really?" Regina says, her arms still crossed.

"How is switching us thinking of our best interests?" Emma adds.

"Because you'll get switched back by solving your issues. That or True Love's Kiss. Or why not both?" she says as she watches both Emma and her sister's expressions fall. "Good luck!"

"I can't believe this," Regina mutters as Emma stays frozen on the spot. "You're…"

"What? A genius?" Zelena suggests.

"Grounded!" Regina bellows.

"What?" Zelena gasps. This is _so_ unfair. The one time she tries to use her powers for good. "You can't ground me! I'm your big sister!"

"I'm also the person who gives you a place to live and makes sure you won't relapse to your evil ways again," Regina asserts in Emma's voice. "You're grounded."

"I can't believe this," she mutters as she stands up and stomps towards the staircase without looking back. She's going to finish her book in peace. "I deserve a damn medal, and this is what I get."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Tris (and Ari)! x

"Are you okay?" Regina asks Emma after her sister has slammed the door of the guest bedroom room closed.

Emma doesn't look okay. She looks terrified, as if she's seen a dragon or an ogre. Regina can't remember seeing her reflection looking like this in a long time.

"I'm…" Emma starts. She tries to look at Regina first, but fails, her expression turning even more confused when she looks at her. "You know how to fix this, right?"

No matter how mad she's been at Emma these last two weeks, she can't stay mad at her anymore. Emma's obviously more confused and terrified than she is, and Regina wants nothing more than for her to feel okay again.

"I suppose," she responds as she moves closer to Emma. "If Zelena is to be believed, then we should just solve our issues and stop arguing."

"I can't believe I'm living my life in the middle of fairy tale characters, and now I've been thrown into Freaky Friday, too," Emma mutters and shakes her head, her gaze still on the wall behind Regina.

"Let's hope we can figure this out faster than they did," she prompts. She has no interest in dragging this out any longer than necessary.

Emma's eyes finally leave the wall and land on Regina's. "You've seen Freaky Friday?"

"I've seen a lot of movies, Emma," she states. It's no secret, but Emma seems to find it hard to believe as lips curve upwards into an disbelieving smile.

This shouldn't be the time to talk about movies. They should be talking about their current issue. She can't keep looking at her own face like this anymore when she feels so much for Emma. It's too confusing.

"So, about our argument…" she says. "I believe I've been too harsh on you. I'm sorry for snapping at you and suggesting you tried to ruin my happiness when you actually only want what's best for me. I'm sorry. None of this is your fault."

Emma looks surprised, her dark brown eyes wide and her mouth slightly ajar. Regina really hopes she'd say something soon.

"Will you accept my apology?" she continues.

"Um, yeah, of course," Emma replies. She stumbles on her words a bit. "I'm sorry too. For bringing Hook and… for everything. Really."

"Emma," she sighs as she moves closer to the other woman. "None of that is your fault. Especially bringing the pirate part since it wasn't even your idea."

"How did you…?" Emma says, confusion spreading all over her – Regina's – face.

"He paid a little surprise visit to you this morning, and I heard what I needed to hear," she explains calmly, but Emma's expression turns into a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"He did what?" Emma asks, her voice catching in her throat. "I told him we would need to take time off, and he just… Came there?"

"Yes," she says. She wonders for a moment if she should speak her mind or not, but since that's the way to get out of this mess, she might as well try it. "I honestly think you deserve so much better, Emma. He was… rather disgustingly forward when I had already told him no multiple times. He really doesn't listen to you and his flirting is atrocious."

"Wait, what did he do?" Emma says, her hand landing on Regina's arm. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she scoffs. "Your magic works pretty well even though I'm not used to it. He should be somewhere in the woods."

Emma lets out an incredulous laugh and shakes her head. "Oh, my God."

"Are things fine between us now?" she asks, hoping some magic will soon move them back to their respective bodies.

"Yeah." Emma nods. "We're good."

Nothing happens. They stand there in silence for a while, Emma smiling uncertainly with her arms crossed and Regina trying to sense any kind of approaching magic, but absolutely nothing happens.

Zelena's words from earlier come back to her, and she starts to wonder if she can ever get back into her own body without revealing her true feelings to Emma. She can't believe she's in this mess. Zelena will be grounded for life.

"Maybe if we hugged?" she suggests as her last option before she knows she has to come clean. She really hopes the hug will do it.

Emma looks like a deer caught in the headlights. If suggesting a hug does this to her, what will Regina confessing her feelings do?

"Yeah, sure," Emma answers, even though she sounds nervous. "Why not?"

She can tell Emma tries to act casual, but there's something more in her eyes, something she almost recognizes. She approaches Emma carefully and is met with a wary expression on her own face. Of all the ways she has imagined hugging Emma Swan for the first time, this has never been on the list.

She catches a whiff or her own familiar shampoo as she wraps her arms around Emma. Hugging her own body feels weird; she's slightly taller than Emma now and her breasts are pressing against Emma's, but actually they're hers, and she just feels all kinds of confused as she holds her friend. Emma's arms circle her waist, and she refuses to let go straight away, closing her eyes as she tries to enjoy their weird first hug.

"I said True Love's Kiss, not Gal Pals' Hug," a familiar voice says.

Regina opens her eyes and is met with the sight of Zelena standing at the top of the stairs with her arms crossed. She looks rather amused again, considering the fact that she's an adult who was grounded by her younger sister less than ten minutes ago.

"Zelena," Regina says as she pulls away from the hug. "Didn't you have a book to finish?"

"I got hungry," Zelena replies as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She rolls her eyes as she descends the stairs. "I'm only trying to help. You obviously have some unresolved issues."

"I don't believe our issues have anything to do with you," Regina points out, even though she knows Zelena is right. She will have to tell Emma about her feelings. _Unbelievable._

"So you admit you have them?" Zelena smirks.

"Just go get your breakfast," she replies. Normally, she'd be making breakfast for everyone, but since it's Sunday and Henry won't be up for another two hours, she can concentrate on the more pressing matter at hand first.

"I will," Zelena chirps and walks past them towards the kitchen.

Regina watches Zelena walk away until she has to turn to face Emma. The other woman looks confused, a slight blush starting to creep onto her olive skin as she absent-mindedly fumbles with the hem of her top.

"I think there's something we should talk about," Regina confesses. "Maybe somewhere a bit more private?"

"Yeah," Emma replies. She gulps and nods, her expression uncertain.

Regina she feels a pang of nostalgia when she leads Emma into her study, their first meeting vividly in her mind. It feels almost comical how little they'd known back then, completely unaware of how their relationship would evolve during the next few years. They had been in their own bodies then, too, and Regina feels a bit overwhelmed as she sits down on the couch next to Emma.

"So," she starts. For a moment, she just considers staying in their bodies and never telling Emma. That honestly seems like a feasible option, but sadly, this is more than just her life they're talking about. Emma is stuck in a different body too because of a confession Regina won't make, so she has to do this for both of them.

Damn, her conscience. Honestly.

"So, recently, I've been having, ehm, feelings," she starts. It feels weird to hear her confession in Emma's voice and see her own eyes looking at her as she speaks. It's almost as if Emma's admitting she has feelings for her. _If only._

"Feelings?" Emma repeats in Regina's voice.

"Romantic ones," she specifies and looks away. This is too much."For you... And by recently, I mean before Pan's curse... And now."

She keeps her head high but won't look at Emma. She honestly feels like this is borderline humiliating. She _has_ to say how she feels even though it's likely her feelings won't be reciprocated, no matter what kind of weird jealousy fits Hook's been having over their bond. There's a major chance their tentative friendship will never be the same again thanks to Zelena's miscalculations.

"Are you… for real?" Emma asks her after a moment, quiet and incredulous.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" she shoots back and finally turns to look at Emma.

"But," Emma says, dark brow scrunched in confusion. _Is this what she looks like when she's utterly confused?_ "You were with Robin."

She sighs. "There's nothing wrong with accepting some happiness and love when it's given to you on a silver platter, Emma. I don't have many people who'd actually want to be with me, which isn't exactly surprising." Being known as the Evil Queen for decades decreased the amount of potential suitors.

"But… You like men," Emma tries next, and it's truly weird for Regina to listen to her own voice say that.

"I've noticed I tend to fall in love with a person, not their gender," she explained, once again in Emma's voice. She felt like it was mocking her. "I've never done much to hide it, unless keeping it from my mother counts. I didn't want her to know."

She's fairly certain Emma has gotten her part of Regina's (un)intentional flirting over the years, yet Emma seems to be full of disbelief after her confession.

"Yeah, I feel the last part," Emma breathes out as she threads a hand through her hair and looks away. She looks continuously more and more nervous, her blush deepening and her free arm hugging one of Regina's pillows.

"Wait. What?"

"Regina, I don't know how to say it. I've never said it to anyone before," Emma confesses, her eyes meeting Regina's again as panic increases in her voice. It feels so weird looking at her, because she's looking at her own troubled face, but the worry in her voice in so irrevocably Emma her heart is breaking. "This fucking spell. I wanna punch Zelena."

"Emma, it's okay," she reassures the other woman, although she's not entirely sure what she's implying at this point or what her biggest issue is. She brings her hand to Emma's arm. "You can talk to me. I'm hardly the one to judge you for… well, anything."

"Oh, God," Emma breathes out. She looks at Regina like she wants to say something, but like it's impossible to get it out. She takes a few deep breaths before closing her eyes and quietly mouthing, "I think I like women."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was probably too much dialogue, but I hope you liked it anyway ~  
> Thank you for leaving comments & kudos! There's one chapter left.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok, so!! the last chapter! months late... i wasn't happy with this chapter, so i never posted it, but then i came to the conclusion i don't wanna abandon this fic either, so here it is! 
> 
> thanks to tris for betaing!! <3

“And you,” Emma finishes as she turns her gaze away from Regina. Her heartbeat has increased tenfold, and she feels like she's going to vomit any minute. “I like you. The way you said you liked me, I think.”

 

“You think?” Regina repeats, but there's no malice in her voice. Only genuine curiosity.

 

“I just…” her voice fades away as she swallows. “I’ve never been with a woman, and I've kinda tried not to think about it. It used to be just occasional thoughts and dreams and I kinda thought that all girls think other girls are pretty and find them more intriguing than boys, but I guess that's not how it goes.”

 

She turns her gaze to Regina. The woman wearing her face is still listening to her, her expression kind albeit surprised.

 

“But then you happened,” she admits and lets out a shallow laugh. “You and your… everything. It got pretty hard to ignore. First I was kinda blind to it; I just thought that what I felt for you was the wish to be friends, but then I started dreaming and then those dreams started to control me when I was awake.

 

“And then the thing with Killian happened. I thought I could give him a shot because you were with Robin anyway. It’s not like I would’ve ever done anything about my feelings for you, so I just tried it in case he'd make me feel something I was supposed to feel.” She shakes her head. “I tried really hard, Regina. I did, but kissing him was so bland. It became like a chore. I didn't really want to do it. I just did it because I was supposed to.”

 

She's never said any of this out loud - never even really admitted it to herself - but now that she's actually started talking, she can't stop. She wants to tell Regina everything and finally find some validation for years of pent-up emotions. Regina seems inclined enough to listen, her eyes on Emma and the nods of her head few and far between. She doesn't seem like she's judging Emma - quite the opposite - so she feels like she can finally confide in someone.

 

“I never slept with him. He really wanted to, and last week we almost did it,” she confesses. She watches Regina’s expression, and even though the woman seems calm and composed and willing to listen, she looks like she’s boiling under the surface and about to vomit. Emma can’t even blame her. “So I tried to enjoy it. He was touching me and kissing my neck and I knew I was supposed to enjoy it, but I couldn’t.” He had felt so heavy and _wrong_ above her.

 

“So I started picturing someone else instead,” she continues as Regia raises an eyebrow. “And I might’ve said someone else’s name.”

 

She can’t look at Regina (or her own face, really) anymore, so she turns her gaze to the fireplace on the other side of the study instead. It’s a nice fireplace. She wonders if chanting fireplace long enough in her head will be enough to drown the embarrassment their conversation has caused her.

 

“Anyway. That’s the story,” she concludes. Why are they still in each other’s bodies? Wasn’t coming clean supposed to reverse the spell? “I didn’t want you to find out like this.”

 

_I didn’t want you to find out at all. No one was supposed to._

 

“Emma,” Regina finally speaks, and it’s in Emma’s voice, but her tone somehow makes it so _Regina._ “I think you just went through what people in this realm call coming out.”

 

“Yeah,” she shrugs, unable to look at Regina.

 

“I’m proud of you,” Regina continues in a calming voice as she strokes Emma’s arm. “This has obviously been really hard for you. I'm glad you told me.”

 

“I didn’t really have a choice to be honest,” she points out.

 

“Still,” Regina says. “You should never pretend to be something you’re not ever again. If this spell meant for you to stop living in a lie, then maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.”

 

She sneers at that. Regina has been spending too much time with Emma's mother. Her words are starting to sound like a hope speech. “I don’t think I’m really ready to look at it that way. I’m still pissed at Zelena.”

 

“That’s fine. You're not the only one,” Regina says. She stays quiet for a while, stroking Emma’s arm until she asks her, “May I give you a hug?”

 

The way Regina makes a hug sound so formal makes Emma laugh. Genuinely laugh. And then cry, apparently. She doesn’t even realize she’s crying before her vision is blurry and her cheeks are wet.

 

It has been an emotional day, and it’s not even 10 AM yet.

 

“Yeah,” she replies in between her laughs and sobs. “Sure.”

 

Regina moves her arms around her in a tentative hug, and it honestly feels pretty weird because she’s hugging herself again, blond hair on her face and strong arms around her. She tries to concentrate on the fact that it’s actually Regina hugging her and trying to comfort her, and she eventually relaxes and lets out a sigh, her head resting on Regina’s shoulder.

 

“Can’t we just get switched back already?” she mumbles. Her eyes are closed, and she has no idea how long they have been hugging each other. Time seems to stand still as Regina’s hand strokes her back. “What more does the spell want?”

 

Regina slowly pulls away, and Emma instantly misses her warmth. They should've started hugging each other ages ago; hugging Regina was awesome.

 

“May I kiss your cheek or forehead? Maybe that could change us back?” Regina asks.

 

Emma wonders why she just doesn't ask to kiss her for real, but she can't bring herself to suggest it. One part of her really wants to; she's dreamt of kissing Regina more times than she'd ever admit and she wonders how it'd be like, but another part of her tells her it's wrong and she shouldn't.

 

She also thinks it'd be kind of weird to kiss Regina when she’s still in her body, so it's probably altogether wisest not to.

 

She simply nods.

 

“Which one?” Regina asks, a smile on her lips and her tone a bit amused.

 

“What?” She doesn't know what Regina's talking about. She's been so invested in thinking about the possibility of kissing Regina. The thought makes her both nervous and excited.

 

“Forehead kiss or cheek kiss?” Regina explains, her smile never leaving her lips. It feels incredibly weird to see her own face smiling at her like this.

 

“Cheek is good,” she replies and tries to act cool and casual about it. She probably fails.

 

Regina smiles at her as she brings her lips to Emma's cheek. The kiss is only a simple brush of lips, but it makes Emma's heart pound in her chest anyway. Suddenly, she feels a pull and her vision goes black. For a moment, she thinks she's fainted, but fainting isn't like this at all, and the next thing she knows, it's her lips against Regina's cheek.

 

They have swapped back.

 

They have swapped back, and Emma's lips are on Regina's skin.

 

She pulls back, even though she knows she doesn't have to and she's not doing anything wrong. It's just a bit too much after all this time of trying to deny her attraction to Regina and women in general.

 

“Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes,” Regina says with a smirk, and Emma honestly doesn't know how she's been oblivious to Regina's flirting for so long. It's pretty obvious now that she really knows how the other woman feels.

 

“Hey,” she replies, lacking her usual witty comeback. She can feel her cheeks get all hot and she knows Regina can see the blush on her pale skin.

 

“I'm really glad we’re back,” Regina says, her eyes still on Emma. “I didn't want to push you towards something you weren't ready for, so I thought a cheek or a forehead kiss might do it.”

 

She looks at Regina in awe. She truly thinks about how Emma feels so much and really listens to her. And… _wait._

 

“Does the kiss working mean…?” she starts but doesn't dare finish her sentence.

 

Regina seems to know what she wanted to ask. “It would truly suggest that we just shared a True Love’s Kiss.”

 

Emma can't keep her mouth from gaping open. True Love’s Kiss. Judging by everything she's learned during these past few years, that's kind of a big deal in the Enchanted Forest.

 

“Are you alright?” Regina asks her, her expression turning from amusement to slight worry.

 

“Just kinda overwhelmed,” she admits. She's just swapped bodies, swapped back, and confessed things she never thought she would.

 

“Understandable,” Regina says as she nods and takes Emma's hand in hers. “I just need to point out I don't expect anything from you even though the spell made you say things you would have rather kept private."

 

“Thanks,” she says as she smiles and gives Regina's hand a squeeze.  She couldn't have had a better reaction to all of this. Regina seems to reciprocate her feelings, but she still doesn't push Emma to do anything she’s not ready for.

 

Regina smiles back at her. She has such a beautiful smile. Everything about Regina is so beautiful: how fiercely she loves, how good of a mother she is, and how the scar on her upper lip makes her face even more perfect...

 

She can't stop looking at Regina's mouth. Her lips are bare, her face still scrubbed free from makeup, and Emma suddenly has an urgent need to feel Regina’s lips against hers. Just once, just to know how it feels, to know if it's different from kissing men and as satisfying as she has both hoped and feared it would be.

 

What makes this different from before is that she _knows_ Regina won't pull away or be disgusted by her trying to kiss her. It feels weird realizing that she's actually wanted in return and that Regina sees nothing wrong about her attraction. Regina knows Emma wants to kiss her, and that's okay.

 

Without thinking too much and before she has a chance to change her mind, she lunges forward and closes the distance between them. Her lips are on Regina's, and a surprised “hmmpf” leaves Regina, but the woman doesn't pull away. Regina’s hold on Emma's hand tightens instead, and her lips move tentatively against Emma's.

 

After her first shock over what she's actually done, she tries to figure out how she's feeling. Regina's soft kisses feel really good. Regina smells very good. Emma feels like she wants to grab her and kiss her harder, but something’s holding her back so much she ends up breaking the kiss altogether.

 

She liked kissing Regina, and she’d like to kiss her more, but she still feels like she can't allow herself to do that.

 

“Are you okay?” Regina asks her.  She sounds worried. Emma doesn't want her to be worried.

 

“I don't know. I…” she starts, but she's unsure how to continue. “I just… Everyone's expecting me to be someone I'm not. I'm not able to let it go.”

 

“Do you mean your parents or someone else?” Regina asks her, Emma's hand still in hers. “Henry?”

 

“Partly,” she admits. Sometimes she wonders how Henry would react to her telling him she was in love with a woman. She often thinks it wouldn't be too bad, but she still wonders what the worst case scenario would be like.

 

As for her parents, she often feels like her parents would abandon her again. She fears that they'll never love her like they love her baby brother who's their new chance to make things right. Emma feels like she's never enough, no matter what she does. Being so much against the the heteronormative expectations of people who come from a land where all stories are about princesses marrying princes, never other princesses, might just be too much.

 

“I did not raise a homophobic son, so you should be okay, Emma,” Regina says with a serious face. Emma believes her, although she's still not entirely sure how he'd react to his mothers being in love. (Wasn't that what most kids whose parents weren't together wanted, though?) “I don't know about your father, but I don't think Snow would honestly mind either, and she'd probably speak for both of them anyway.”

 

“So you're saying my parents - Snow White and Prince Charming -”  She stops and lets out a laugh. She still feels rather weird about the fact that she has parents in the first place, but the fact that they're… Well, Snow White and her prince, makes it even weirder. “You're saying they'd be fine with their their daughter falling in love with another princess?”

 

“I'm a queen, Emma. Not a princess,” Regina points out, and Emma can't help but to roll her eyes. “And your mom’s best friend likes girls anyway, so it'd be hypocritical of her to judge her own daughter for it. She's a big supporter of True Love, and we seem to have it.”

 

Regina waves her free hand dismissively as if her words are old news.

 

“Ruby?”

 

“You are so clueless,” Regina states. She lets out a benevolent laugh and squeezes Emma's hand. “Yes, Ruby. But honestly, if they ever give you hard time for your sexuality, I'll destroy their happiness, and this time I mean it.”

 

It's really hard to believe Regina would do such a thing when she's sitting in front of her in mismatched sports gear, her hair all over the place, and without any of her regular makeup.

 

“You're cute,” Emma asserts without really planning to. She could swear her mouth has a mind of its own today.

 

“I tell you I'm going to destroy your parents’ happiness, and your first reaction is that I'm cute?” Regina says incredulously.

 

“Yeah,” she says, feeling a bit more calm and confident after talking to Regina. She doesn't feel all that comfortable with her sexuality yet, but this is still a start. Regina supports her and will help her.

 

Her eyes fall on Regina's lips again. This time, she does her best to silence all the voices that are telling her she shouldn't feel this way. She concentrates on all the positive feelings she has towards Regina as she slowly moves towards the other woman, her gaze flicking between Regina's eyes and lips.

 

The kiss is initiated by her again - she knows Regina doesn't want to push her and make her uncomfortable - but Regina still responds to it, her lips moving against Emma's as she brings a hand to Emma's neck.

 

This time it feels so good Emma completely loses herself into the kiss. Kissing Regina is like fully breathing for the first time. It feels like she's really kissing someone and she's not doing it just because someone expects her to, but because _she can't get enough._

 

Regina's lips are soft, her hair tangles in Emma's fingers, and when Emma cracks an eye open for a moment, Regina looks so beautiful with her eyes closed. As they keep kissing, Emma's mind drifts back to the dream she had the previous night, Regina pinned against a wall and her hands _everywhere_. She can't hold back a moan when she realizes how much attraction she actually feels towards the other woman and how much she wants to continue this; it's nothing like any man she's ever been with. Nothing can ever compare.

 

Regina smiles against her lips before breaking the contact and moving to pepper a few kisses down her neck. Emma bites her lip as Regina actually hums when her mouth moves on her skin; it feels absolutely heavenly and she's actually starting to get turned on, wetness pooling between her legs because she's so overwhelmed by Regina's touch and the sounds she makes.

 

Regina moves back up and presses one more kiss on her lips before flashing her a smile. She looks beautiful, and Emma needs to keep herself from kissing her again.

 

“How are you feeling?” Regina asks her as she takes Emma's hand back in hers.

 

“Pretty good, actually,” she admits. She is. Even though she's by no means ready to come out to anyone else just yet or take things with Regina further, she's never felt more certain about how she really feels or to whom she's attracted to. She's never felt this supported and light either, as if a weight has lifted off her shoulders for voicing her true desire and acting on it.

 

“I'm glad,” Regina responds. 

 

She hesitates for a short moment and then pecks Regina quickly on the lips, which earns her another smile.

 

“Would you like to stay for breakfast?” Regina asks, her smile never leaving her lips. “I'll make you anything you want.”

 

She can't suppress a smile at that. “How could I say no to anything you cook?”

 

“So I assume that's a yes?”

 

“Yes,” she replies and lets out a relieved laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually started writing this fic shortly after coming to terms with being a lesbian, so i hope i did an okay job with the prompt. feel free to share your thoughts & thanks for reading! <3 you can find me on [tumblr](http://queenssaviour.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/QUEENSSAVlOUR) too.


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